Meta

I’m thrilled to be part of the Film Book Fair at CINECON 48. It’s part of the Memorabilia Show, located on the third floor meeting area of the Loews Hollywood Hotel (formerly the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel), at 1755 N. Highland Ave., and it’s going on all weekend.

I’ ll be presenting my Forgotten HollywoodBook Series TODAY from 11:30a to 3p. Folks can purchase special autographed copies of Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten Historyand Son of Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History.

Here’s a link to their website, which will direct you to all the fabulous activities:

A series of events around the world are set to celebrate the 50th anniversary of James Bond films. According to the official SkyFall website:

It has been announced that October 5th, 2012 will be Global James Bond Day, a day-long series of events for 007 fans around the world.

Worldwide events celebrating Bond’s golden anniversary include a global online and live charity auction event organized by Christie’s in London, a global survey to discover the favourite Bond film country-by-country, a film retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York, a Music of Bond night in Los Angeles hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and Designing 007: 50 Years of James Bond Style opens at TIFF in Toronto. Leading up to Global James Bond Day, for the first time ever fans can own all 22 films in the franchise on Blu-ray in one comprehensive collection with BOND 50, releasing worldwide beginning September 24th.

A new feature documentary from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Passion Pictures, and Red Box Films, Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007, will also be unveiled (with country-specific release details to follow). Directed by Stevan Riley, Everything Or Nothing focuses on three men with a shared dream – Bond producers Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman, and author Ian Fleming. It’s the thrilling and inspiring narrative behind the longest running film franchise in cinema history. With unprecedented access both to the key players involved and to EON Productions’ extensive archive, this is the first time the inside story of the franchise has ever been told on screen in this way. Director Stevan Riley follows a story that begins with a groundbreaking spy thriller and continues six Bonds and five decades later. While Bond was saving the world from chaos and catastrophe on screen, this compelling documentary draws back the curtain to reveal the battles, threats and real stakes unfolding behind the camera.

A nostalgia-filled night of unforgettable scores and clips from Paramount studio’s rich history, including Wings(the first Academy Award Best Picture winner), The Godfathertrilogy, the epic romance Titanic, and this year’s action blockbuster Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, among many other favorites.

The passing of the first man on the moon caused me to think about how important Neil Armstrong was to motion pictures. The origins of cinema’s relationship to human space travel dates back to 1902, when Georges Melies created The Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune). The film was loosely based on two popular novels of the time: From the Earth to the Moonby Jules Verneand H. G. Wells’ The First Men in the Moon. It was named as one of the hundred greatest films of the 20th century byThe Village Voice.

A Korean War veteran, Neil Armstrong was one of the initial test pilots tapped to become an astronaut. The exploits of these space pioneers were chronicled in the 1983 movie The Right Stuff. Though Neil was not personally featured, the story of his comrades called the Mercury Seven were chronicled. They included Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Alan Shepard, Wally Schirra, Gus Grissom, and Deke Slayton.

The Apollo 11 mission was the initial goal set by President Kennedy’s proclamation for an astronaut to set foot on the moon by the end of the decade (1960s). When The Eagle landed on July 21st, 1969, the television and radio audience was estimated globally at 450 million at the moment when Armstrong made his famous walk.

NEIL ARMSTRONG

Apollo 11’s flight to the moon has not been made into a Hollywood movie. However. the Apollo 13 mission became a cinematic classic. Neil Armstrong was portrayed as one of the astronauts supporting the combined efforts of NASA’sMission Control.

Like John Glenn, and other pioneering astronauts, Neil Armstrong will always be considered an American hero. He’s made one more flight to the heavens. His legacy is in tact.

Dick Van Dyke will receive the 2013 Screen Actors GuildLifetime Achievement Award at their next gala in January. The 86-year old actor can add this accolade to his multiple Emmys, Tonys, and a Grammy he has received. DICK VAN DYKE —————->

Dick Van Dyke is best remembered on the small screen for starring in Diagnosis Murderand The Dick Van Dyke Show. But, he’s had a rousing career in cinema and on Broadway. His credits in film include Bye Bye Birdie, What a Way to Go, Mary Poppins, Lt. Robin Crusoe U.S.N., Divorce American Style, Fitzwilly, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Comic, Cold Turkey, and Dick Tracy. He appeared on stage in Bye Bye Birdie, The Music Man, and Damn Yankees.

His hometown is Danville, Illinois, which also produced Donald O’Connor, Gene Hackman and Bobby Short. His brother Jerry is also a well-known actor. Van Dyke delivered stirring eulogies of Stan Laurel and Buster Keaton, idols of his as a child. He began his entertainment career in radio during World War II, while serving in the United States Army Air Corps and Special Air Services. Van Dyke’s 2011 memoir My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business made the New York TimesBest Sellers list.

His good friend, Mary Tyler Moore, was award last year’s SAGLifetime Achievement Award. The 19th AnnualScreen Actors Guild Awards will simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, January 27, 2013.

My wife Laurie had a great time over the weekend at the Global eBook Awards Gala in Santa Barbara. Held at the historic University Club, she met actress Marilu Henner; and the Editor-in-Chief of the Midwest Book Review, James A. Cox.

LAURIE PACHECO JAMES A. COX MARILU HENNER

The Midwest Book Review has given two 5-Star Reviews for my Forgotten Hollywood Book Series. I was additionally thrilled Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten Historywas an eBook Finalist in the Entertaiment and Performing Arts category.

William Windom was an intelligent award-winning actor with the folksy attributes of a Will Rogers. His performances were quite understated in a way that Spencer Tracy and Paul Scofield crafted in their screen roles.

Windom had a simple movie career with parts in To Kill a Mockingbird, For Love or Money, The Americanization of Emily, Hour of the Gun, The Gypsy Moths, Escape From Planet of the Apes, The Mephisto Waltz, and the remake of Miracle on 34th Street. He starred on the small screen, including in The Farmer’s Daughterand My World and Welcome To It. He was outstanding in episodes of The Twilight Zone, The Fugitive, Hawaii Five-O, Columbo, Mission Impossible, Night Gallery, All in the Family, The Streets of San Francisco, and especially, in Star Trek. He was a regular on Murder She Wrotefor over a decade.

Like James Whitmore and Hal Holbrook, William Windom cemented his career legacy with one-man shows on stage, usually playing James Thurber. He was one of my favorite character actors who will be sorely missed.

William Windom was 88.

———————————————————–

Phyllis Diller was the zany comedian discovered by Groucho Marx on the You Bet Your Lifegame show. She was also a personal friend of Bob Hope. He invited her to perform with him in Vietnam in 1966 with his USO troupe during the height of the war. She also had a husband named Fang.

Her film career included roles in Splendor in the Grass, Boy Did I Get the Wrong Number, and The Sunshine Boys. Our delight was her live appearances on the variety show circuit, including What’s My Line, The Tonight Show, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, TheHollywood Squares, and The Gong Show. Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas also had her on as a frequent guest.

Phyllis Thaxter was a pretty leading lady on Broadway and Hollywood. While at MGM, she appeared in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, The Sea of Grass, Bewitched, and Blood on the Moon. She moved to Warner Brothers, and co-starred in Jim Thorpe All American, and Fort Worth. She also had small roles in The World of Henry Orientand Superman (1978), playing Clark Kent’s ma.

On television, she guest starred on Wagon Train, Rawhide, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The Twilight Zone. She resembled Teresa Wright, and received the same type of parts over her career.

Her father was a member of the Maine Supreme Court. She worked steadily, despite an affliction with mild polio in the 1950s. Her friendship with Montgomery Clift was legendary.

Helen Gurley Brown was a best-selling author and publisher. As the iconic editor-in-chief for Cosmopolitan Magazine for three decades, she spoke for woman’s issues, and captured the essence of the feminine mystique. Her husband produced top films, including Jaws, The Sting, Cocoon, and Driving Miss Daisy.

HELEN GURLEY BROWN

Brown’s big break came when her book Sex and the Single Girl was published in 1962. The best-selling work made the scribe an international celebrity. The title was purchased by a top moviemaker, and the subsequent project became a vehicle for Natalie Wood, Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, and Lauren Bacall. Her notable readers included Joan Crawford, Gypsy Rose Lee, and cast members of Sex and the City.

Helen’s literary contributions and edited essays ushered in the sexual revolution of the 1960s, and influenced the concept of feminism. While at Cosmo, Burt Reynolds famously posed nude for the magazine.

Together with her husband, she established the David and Helen Gurley Brown Institute for Media Innovation. Two campuses regard this project their home: Columbia University and Stanford. In September, 2008, she was named the 13th most powerful American over the age of 80 by Slate magazine.

In the spirit of the Olympics, the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood was handed the baton from the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica to honor the late Ernest Borgnine. The weekend event takes place each night at 7:30p, August 16th – 19th.

Here’s the schedule to make your plans:

~ THURSDAY – JOHNNY GUITAR / THE BANDLANDERS

~FRIDAY – EMPEROR OF THE NORTH POLE / THE VIKINGS

~ SATURDAY – THE WILD BUNCH / THE DIRTY DOZEN

~ SUNDAY – MARTY / THE CATERED AFFAIR

The Egyptian Theatre is located at 6712 Hollywood Blvd. The event is sponsored by American Cinematheque. According to their website:

The American Cinematheque is a non-profit, viewer-supported cultural organization dedicated exclusively to the public presentation of the Moving Picture in all its forms. The Cinematheque presents the best of film and video – ranging from the classics to the outer frontiers of the art form. Unlike an annual film festival, they screen year-round and are able to provide both the public and filmmakers with a permanent venue to enjoy and study film on the big screen.

Kirk Douglas will be the very special guest on stage at a screening of Spartacuson August 13th at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Pete Hammond will serve as moderator for a discussion with the iconic 95-year old actor and producer.

The event is sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as part of TheLast 70mm Film Festival. A special print of this 1960 classic is scheduled to run at 7:30p. The interview with the screen legend will begin at 7p. According The Academy website:

Tickets for Spartacus are now sold out. A standby line will form on the day of the event, and standby numbers will be assigned starting at approximately 5:30p. Any available tickets will be distributed shortly before the program begins. Ticket holders should plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to ensure a seat in the theater. Doors open at 6:30p. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard.

The film won four Oscars,including Actor in a Supporting Role (Peter Ustinov), Color Art Direction (Alexander Golitzen, Eric Orbom; Set Decoration: Russell A. Gausman, Julia Heron), Color Cinematography (Russell Metty), and Color Costume Design (Valles, Bill Thomas). It also received nominations for Film Editing (Robert Lawrence) and Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Alex North).

When the film was restored (two years after Laurence Olivier’s death) in 1991, the original dialogue recording of his bath scene was missing; it had to be re-dubbed. Tony Curtis was able to re-record his part, but the voice of Crassus was performed by Anthony Hopkins. A talented mimic, he’d been a protege of Olivier during his days as the National Theatre Artistic Director. Spartacusbecame the biggest moneymaker in Universal Studios history, an honor it held for a decade until it was surpassed by Airport (1970).

One of the most prolific composers for the stage and cinema has died. Marvin Hamlisch joins Richard Rodgers as the only one in music history to ever win an Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Grammy, and a Pulitzer Prize. You can also add two Golden Globes accomplishments.

He wrote scores for two early Woody Allen films: Take the Money and Runand Bananas. He additionally created the musical soundtrack for Save the Tiger; The April Fools; The Spy Who Loved Me; Same Time Next Year; Kotch; Sophie’s Choice; Ordinary People; Three Men and a Baby; and of course, The Way We Were; Ice Castles; and the Scott Joplin-adapted score for The Sting. His Broadway music score from A Chorus Linewas also transferred to the screen. MARVIN HAMLISCH(by Shel Secunda)

Though known for his movie scores, Hamlisch was influenced by Broadway musicals, including My Fair Lady, Gypsy, West Side Story, and Bye Bye Birdie. Early in his career, he wrote songs performed by teen-idol Lesley Gore — Sunshines Lollipops and Rainbowsand California Nights; the latter by the singer on the television series Batman. He began a writing collaboration with Carole Bayer Sager, which led to his first marriage.

Marvin Hamlisch also took his show on the road, as the musical director for tours by Linda Ronstadt and Barbra Streisand. And for a time, he held the position of Principal Pops Conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Pasadena Symphony and Pops. He was due to lead the New York Philharmonic during the upcoming 2013 New Year’s Eve concert.

Marvin was working on a new musical, Gotta Dance; and he was scheduled to complete the score for a new Stephen Soderbergh bio-pic on Liberace, Behind the Candelabra, starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon.

Marvin Hamlisch was 68.

———————————————————-

Judith Crist was a scathing film critic who worked for the Today show on NBC; TV Guide; the New York Magazine; the New York Herald Tribune, and the New York Post. Along with Pauline Kael, Andrew Sarris, and Gene Shalit, Crist developed a nationwide following from their roots in The Big Apple.

Crist’s early influence stemmed from a love of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Favorite classics include Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush, Gone With the Wind, The Grapes of Wrath, and everything produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Judith later helped further the careers of Robert Altman and Martin Scorsese. But, it was negative words that made Crist popular with her readers. Among her noted targets: Some Like It Hot; Spencer’s Mountain; Hurry Sundown; Cleopatra; and the rise in popularity of Italian cinema. Her friends were A-list Hollywood types… Bette Davis, Woody Allen, and director Joseph Mankiewicz. She played herself in a cameo in Stardust Memories. JUDITH CRIST

In 1963, Crist was awarded an Alumni Award by the Journalism School Alumni Association from Columbia University. She was a member of their Executive Committee, and served three terms as President of the Alumni Association during the 1960s.

8% milligram of chloral hydrate and 4.5% milligram of Nembutal were found in Marilyn Monroe’s system, and Dr. Thomas Noguchi of the Los Angeles County Coroners office recorded cause of death as acute barbiturate poisoning, resulting from a probable suicide.

Truth be told, her death is still an official mystery. In many ways, unfortunately, it remains her most enduring legacy…

With the 2012 Summer Olympics chugging along in London, the British Film Institute has made their choices for the greatest films of all time. These selections are compiled and updated every decade, and printed in their official magazine, Sight and Sound. There were 846 critics, programmers, academics and distributors who participated in this international survey.

Vertigo narrowly trumped Citizen Kaneas cinema’s finest contribution. This marks a first time that Alfred Hitchcock has bested Orson Welles in this kind of classic film analysis. Other provincial entries in the Top 10 include 1927’s Sunrise, 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Searchers. Contributions abroad by Jean Renoir and Federico Fellini were also mentioned.

Personally, I’m astounded by the selection of #1. After recently watching Citizen Kane, I was again mesmerized by its intelligent craftsmanship. The cinematography is stunning. Vertigo is a faux Euro experience. The camera work is over-the-top and in-your-face, getting in the way of a convoluted plot line. The British film maker was better suited in delivering nonstop action in North By Northwest; riveting drama in Rear Window; and sheer terror in Psycho, considered by many theatre-goers, Hitchcock’s masterpiece of movie-making.

Leave it to the British to get me to ardently be conflicted with their findings!

——————————————————-

And, speaking of The Searchers… TCM began their month-long Summer Under the Stars with the legendary John Wayne. Each day, in the month of August, a different actor is featured in a 24-hour tribute. In honor of current Olympians, Johnny Weissmuller, who won five gold medals at the 1924Summer Olympics, is featured on Friday in the fine Tarzanseries.

On Saturday, Turner Classic Movies will remember the passing of Marilyn Monroe, who died exactly 50 years ago. And, I’m looking forward to this Sunday’s homage to Claude Rains. I’d like to think my efforts in presenting the gifted actor in my ForgottenHollywood Book Series had something to do with this day-long retrospective. Other actors from my work include Van Heflin, Lionel Barrymore, and Freddie Bartholomew.